Former AFC Sudbury chief executive Patrick Bell ‘stepped down quietly’ from board-level role at AFC Sudbury at the turn of year
Former chief executive Patrick Bell ‘stepped down quietly’ from his board-level role at AFC Sudbury at the turn of year, the club have revealed.
Bell was promoted from community development director to assume a new position as a full-time CEO at The MEL Group Stadium in late December 2022.
After linking up with charity The Bridge Project, he guided the club through a tough financial and logistical period that saw all but a few of the promotion-winning squad follow manager Rick Andrews out the door due to budget cuts in the weeks following promotion, along with a move to their current Midlands-derived league being revealed.
In early October, it was announced Bell had handed over the reins to Alicja Holland as the new CEO, while he moved into a newly-created role as director of partnerships.
But, following an enquiry from SuffokNews in conjunction with print title the Suffolk Free Press, the club put out a short statement confirming he was no longer working for them.
It read: “AFC Sudbury extends its thanks to Patrick Bell for his hard work at the club between December 2022 and December 2024.
“Patrick made the decision to resign from the board, after handing over the CEO position to Alicja Holland in October 2024, at the start of January.
“Patrick wanted to step down quietly with no fuss after leaving the throngs of the club to concentrate on family life to be able to spend more time supporting his wife and two teenage children.
“Patrick helped the club in a transition period as CEO for 18 months, and the board thank him for those efforts.”
Bell was a big advocate for promoting and growing the female side of the club and women’s first-team manager Luke Mallett paid tribute to his efforts on his X account.
He posted: “Would like to personally thank @PB_AFCSudbury for all the time and effort put into @AFCSudbury.
“For the women’s section, you have been a great ally to us all but mainly the girls themselves who deserve to be seen and celebrated. Very grateful and thankful to you.”
Bell was approached for comment.
